Day of mourning brings Karachi to a halt as victims of violence continue to pile up

Eight-year-old Sumayya, whose uncle, Imran Ali, was injured in a shootout by unidentified gunmen, looks at him as he is brought to a hospital for treatment in Karachi, Pakistan, on August 23.

Athar Hussain / Reuters

A man rides a donkey-cart on the deserted streets during a strike in Karachi on August 23. Karachi faced a complete shutdown on Tuesday after the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) announced that a day of mourning would be observed against the ongoing wave of violence that has claimed nearly 100 lives in less than a week, local media reported.

Karachi, a city of 18 million people, ground to a halt Tuesday, with most residents staying off the streets after a political party called a strike to protest the deaths of at least 96 people killed in the past week, the AP reported.

Yet the violence shows few signs of abating. Police chief Saud Mirza told the AP that the bodies of 10 more people were found overnight, some of them stuffed in bloody sacks. Read the full story.